car is missing

i just bought recently a 89 sc with 180k miles on it. I realized it was missing running of of 5 cylinders. and i noticed that one wire was not hooked up. as big of a paint it is to change the spark plugs i decided to hook up the wire. it sounded like it wasn't missing anymore but now it is really lagging. always wanting to shut off. and on top of that it only has 4 gears. which is strange i would of thought it was a 5. if any of ya got any suggestions please reply back. and also about how much do u think it would take to make any of these cars reliable. and about how much is a complete rebuild. thanx

Welcome to the nest joegreddy, we'll have ya flyin' on your own before long. One of the top problems on SC's/XR7's is vacuum leaks. Start with checking every last vacuum hose and all 4 of your intercooler pipe connections.
If you have access to a code reader, by all means run codes on the car and see if there's any history (stored codes), clear it and then run them again. Post back here with what you find, tons of fellow enthusiasts will be more than glad to help.

By the way, mod your profile to at least show what state you're in. You might have another SC'r right down the street or across town to help you.

'bird

Mine is missing as well. I mean, I know where it is, but it's not running good.
We have runs codes on it and it had a 111, which says it passes. It also has some vibration to it as it's missing.

I'll check for vacuum leaks too. Hope it's something simple. I thought the balancer was bad, but after checking it, it looked ok.


David

thanx

Thanks guys for all the help. yeah i'm pretty new to this ford thing. My friend has a cougar 96 xr7 6 cylinder. and he's got me into this. i have a show car civic that i'm working on to. i actually do body work for a living and engines is really not my thing. but i really wanna try to make this thing fast. i have a guy that is actually coming to my shop to go and change the plugs and wires. they really put a good spot to put those. so i'll let ya know how it does after that. actually too i heard from a local ford guy that putting a smaller underdrive pullly and a chip will actually let the supercharger boost more and be faster. and what plugs do u reccommend ppl tell me autolite and ppl tell me non platinum. well thanx again.

i had to get a good balancer after 2 bad ones but its mostly plus or wires i think i like the autolite im thinking its autolite 764 plain old colder plug i tried app103 and they dont seem to last long in my old motor

car is still missing. acutally change plugs and wires. actually the supercharger knocks a little bit. i'm wondering if its supercharger or the motor. any suggestions???